Blog Post:Digital marketers can’t operate in isolation. To be effective, they need the input of actuaries, data analysts, merchandizers, partners, and creative teams. They may require data from external entities such as banks or other business partners to inject into their own models and enable better predictive decisions. Integrating a targeting platform with other systems such as analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) applications can also help marketers know their site visitors better and increase revenue.The risk of operating in isolation is that marketers’ good intentions can be foiled by circumstances beyond their control. Without integration—with other groups or with systems—potentially costly mistakes and lost opportunities can result. For example, if analysts have recently determined that a product campaign is losing money for the company, marketers need to know immediately so they can pull related banner content from rotation. Or, with regards to systems, something like inventory information is essential to consider; if a product is out of stock, recommending it to users is likely a losing proposition for consumers and the company as well.To enable truly successful targeting, data from multiple sources needs to feed into a centralized system and influence all content presented. Marketers will benefit most from using a targeting system that is open, meaning that it allows other stakeholders and external entities to “plug in” as needed so that decisions can be made using different data sources and variables. Look for a targeting solution that offers many options and application programming interfaces (APIs) for importing and exporting data.For instance, many of our customers are using Adobe Analytics solutions to pass data into Adobe Target to enrich user profiles, serve more targeted content, and determine the most logical “next step” for any given customer. The aggregated, captured data is key here, whether it comes from other groups within a company, other systems, or—likely—a combination of both. The possible outcomes are endless and typically favorable, with the ability to use CRM information to identify customers as strong prospects and make appropriate offers or take countless other steps using data from finance, inventory, partner, and additional systems.The important takeaway is to be sure to consider the power of integrating a testing and targeting solution with other systems and groups. Because like the saying “no man is an island,” targeting works in much the same way, growing in value the more it touches other teams and systems.
Author:Pradeep Javangula
Date Created:June 7, 2013
Headline:Optimization: Not an Isolated Event
Social Counts:
Keywords: #Adobe Analytics #Adobe Target #analytics #digital marketing #targeting #testing
Publisher:Adobe

Optimization: Not an Isolated Event

Digital marketers can’t operate in isolation. To be effective, they need the input of actuaries, data analysts, merchandizers, partners, and creative teams. They may require data from external entities such as banks or other business partners to inject into their own models and enable better predictive decisions. Integrating a targeting platform with other systems such as analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) applications can also help marketers know their site visitors better and increase revenue.

The risk of operating in isolation is that marketers’ good intentions can be foiled by circumstances beyond their control. Without integration—with other groups or with systems—potentially costly mistakes and lost opportunities can result. For example, if analysts have recently determined that a product campaign is losing money for the company, marketers need to know immediately so they can pull related banner content from rotation. Or, with regards to systems, something like inventory information is essential to consider; if a product is out of stock, recommending it to users is likely a losing proposition for consumers and the company as well.

To enable truly successful targeting, data from multiple sources needs to feed into a centralized system and influence all content presented. Marketers will benefit most from using a targeting system that is open, meaning that it allows other stakeholders and external entities to “plug in” as needed so that decisions can be made using different data sources and variables. Look for a targeting solution that offers many options and application programming interfaces (APIs) for importing and exporting data.

For instance, many of our customers are using Adobe Analytics solutions to pass data into Adobe Target to enrich user profiles, serve more targeted content, and determine the most logical “next step” for any given customer. The aggregated, captured data is key here, whether it comes from other groups within a company, other systems, or—likely—a combination of both. The possible outcomes are endless and typically favorable, with the ability to use CRM information to identify customers as strong prospects and make appropriate offers or take countless other steps using data from finance, inventory, partner, and additional systems.

The important takeaway is to be sure to consider the power of integrating a testing and targeting solution with other systems and groups. Because like the saying “no man is an island,” targeting works in much the same way, growing in value the more it touches other teams and systems.